


Please Sext Responsibly

by enjayas



Series: Please Drink Responsibly [5]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Coming Out, Domestic Fluff, Domestic klance, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, One Shot, Phone Sex, Pidge gets a girlfriend, Sexting, gay angst, klance, klangst, long distance, millennial problems
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-16
Updated: 2017-08-16
Packaged: 2018-12-15 17:43:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11811015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enjayas/pseuds/enjayas
Summary: Relationships in a vacuum are great. Relationships in real life… are a little trickier.Keith and Lance have been dating for about eight months and are very much in love. Well, Lance is anyways. Keith is a little more cautious about admitting it. He's still figuring out how to articulate his feelings, especially since he’s having a pretty rough summer.Life brings stress, jobs bring distance, family brings drama, and technology causes its fair share of mishaps. And even if they do love each other, are they both on the same page about their future?Strap in folks, it's about to get real!





	Please Sext Responsibly

**Author's Note:**

> A continuation of the Please Drink Responsibly AU, post PDR and PSR. Some references to PGFR but you don't need to have read it.
> 
> Keith and Lance are 23. Pidge is 21. The Garrison has a high school and college program in this AU.
> 
> Part of this is for my friend and space daughter who, for her birthday, wanted to be in one of my fics dating Pidge and requested that it be about sexting. So uh, this is what I came up with... Happy birthday, space daughter!! Hope this doesn't disappoint!
> 
> (Also, the title is the worst part of this story, I apologize.)

 

 

Keith woke up in bed alone. He turned on his side and let his hand fall into the vacant indent where Lance should have been. It had been that way for six weeks. He pulled at the fitted sheet with a groan then rolled onto his back to rub the sleep out of his eyes and stare miserably at the ceiling.

_Hang in there..._

_He’ll be here this weekend..._

Lance had taken an internship at JPL for the summer. Although he’d been bummed about not getting the gig at NASA, they'd both agreed that JPL was enough of an opportunity to merit being apart for an extended period of time. Lance had promised to break up the twelve week eternity by flying back for a weekend no matter how hard it hit his checking account. Keith, on the other hand, hadn’t really figured out what to do with himself career-wise since finishing at the Garrison. He’d meant to find a job that summer. Lance had even loaned him Blue, his beat up, old Corolla, so he could to get to work, but he'd never really followed through with applying anywhere. He tended not to think much further ahead than the day before him and had fallen into a loose routine of hitting the gym a few days a week, usually with Shiro, and moping the rest of the time away. It was a pretty abysmal existence and gave him way too much time to brood over the bomb Lance had dropped on him right before he left.

 

“Keith.” Lance’s voice turned serious as they hugged curbside at Garrison International Airport. “I love you.”

“Oh, uh...” Keith immediately stiffened. It was one of those social interactions that came strapped with expectations. The kind that made Keith overthink and freeze up. 

“I- I love... mmmffns-” Keith’s words were muffled as he pressed his face into Lance’s collar bone. 

Lance snickered, taking it in stride. “I love muffins too. They’re pretty great.” 

Keith groaned with embarrassment. “Sorry…”

“It’s okay, you don’t have to say it too.” Lance pulled him back to arm’s length. “I just wanted to make sure you knew before I, ya know… leave you alone with Shiro all summer.” He joked but there was a tinge of worry in his eyes.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Keith rolled his eyes and pulled his boyfriend close again. “I’m really gonna miss you.”

 

It was the same conversation that played in Keith’s head every morning. Even with frequent texts, phone calls, and video chats, he was really feeling the distance and kind of wished he’d sucked it up and said it too. He was reasonably certain he loved Lance, on some level anyways, but could never bring himself to say it when put on the spot. He hadn’t really figured out what that word meant yet. It was something he mentally put in a category of things that were for other people, not him. Love, success, some sort of greater meaning in life... Those sorts of things weren’t for Keith. Not because he didn’t want them necessarily, more because he just figured they would never happen for him. He was too much of a loner. At least, he had been… Before Lance. And Hunk and Pidge. Before Shiro. They’d all really dragged him out of his shell. Keith was starting to realize that maybe he wasn’t the loner he thought himself to be but felt like he was slipping back into his old ways since Lance had left.

To fight his antisocial tendencies, Keith forced himself over to Hunk’s apartment every week, that night being no different. They’d continued their regular game nights, though they lacked a certain flavor of idiotic banter and competitive flair with the absence of their resident goofball. Pidge had also taken Lance’s room for the summer, and it was weird being in that apartment without Lance being there too. It usually left Keith feeling hollow and rather like a ghost. Still, it was most of the social interaction he was getting, so he soldiered through it.

He let himself into the apartment by habit and wandered into the living room as per usual. What he saw next, though, was extremely not per usual. Keith stopped dead in his tracks and cocked his head at the sight before him. Mouth slightly agape and eyebrows raised in surprise, he briefly wondered if he’d entered a new space-time continuum or stumbled into some sort of alternate reality because Pidge, yes _Pidge_ , was sprawled on the couch holding her shirt up to reveal a lime green sports bra and posing for her phone held at arm’s length with a supremely smug smile plastered across her face.

_What the hell is she doing…?_

Keith tilted his head further with confusion.

Pidge suddenly noticed her friend’s presence. They both froze and stared at one another in shocked silence, Pidge’s arm still outstretched.

“Quiznak, Keith! Ever heard of knocking?” Pidge yanked her shirt down with flustered, pink cheeks. Keith quickly looked away too, apologizing profusely. His friend sat up and slowly turned her head towards him, fuming.

“You saw _nothing_ , got it?” she threatened with a sinister gleam on her glasses.

“Uh… I’m just here for game night.” Keith put his hands up like he meant no harm.

“Cancelled. Hunk’s busy with Shay.”

“You sure you’re not busy too?” Keith couldn’t help but tease.

“You tell NO ONE, Kogane. I’ll make your life hell!” Pidge glared at him then stomped back to her - Lance’s - room.

Keith blinked alone in the living room, a little stunned. 

_Tell no one, huh?_

He pulled out his phone to text Lance with an amused grin. 

Keith: okay I just witnessed the weirdest thing…

Keith’s smile faltered when Lance didn’t respond right away. He sighed. Lance was probably stuck in the lab or running flight tests or something.

“Pidge, you wanna play games or not?” Keith called.

“Fine…” She slunk out of her room looking mildly embarrassed.

“So who’s the lucky uh... person?” Keith asked mid-Mario Kart.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Keith, because you saw _nothing_ , right?” Pidge mercilessly fired a red shell at Keith's Toad, knocking him off the edge of the road.

“Fair enough,” Keith chuckled. After the suffering Pidge had inflicted on him over his crush on Lance before they’d gotten together, it was nice having the tables turned. He smirked to himself. Lance was going to lose his mind when he heard this one.

 

Lance: Okay you can’t just send me clickbait-worthy texts and not divulge further details!!  
Lance: what did you see??

Keith: call me when you’re free

Lance: damn, it must be good

 

 

Lance finally called late that night.

“All right Mr. ‘I just witnessed the weirdest thing and you won’t believe what happens next!’” The pitch of his voice swung upwards and turned gossipy. “What absurdity did you see? I’ve been dying to know all night!”

Keith snickered. It was nice to hear Lance so perky. “The thing is, I’m not sure you _will_ believe it. Especially, since it’s about Pidge.”

“Oh?” Lance asked with intrigue. “Do tell, Mr. Kogane.”

Keith told Lance what he saw.

“WHAAAAAAT?!?” 

Keith pulled his head away from his phone at the shriek but grinned at the reaction.

“Pidge?! OUR Pidge? Our precious little Pidgeon? SEXTING?!” Lance cried. 

Keith wasn’t sure he’d ever describe Pidge as ‘ _precious_ ’. Precocious was a better arrangement of those letters for her.

“You're absolutely right, I cannot believe it. For my sanity, I CANNOT!” Lance continued.

“Right?? I’m gonna give her so much shit for this!” 

“Oh wait, wait, wait, she told me about this. There’s a girl she likes, Mary... Marnie… Maria… I can’t remember. But that’s gotta be it!”

“Wow, really?” Keith was surprised Lance was somehow more in the loop than he was despite being hundreds of miles away.

“Yeah I know, I was surprised too. I coulda sworn that little gremlin was ace, but hey, good for her!”

Keith made a noncommittal noise.

“You know, speaking of sexting…” Lance had that tone in his voice that he thought sounded so suave and was surely accompanied by a shit-eating grin.

“Not happening.” Keith shut that idea down before Lance's imagination ran away with itself. Even if he was pretty sure Lance would sell him his soul for it, Keith wasn’t about to create any permanent evidence.

“Aw, but I miss seeing that body of yours,” Lance pushed.

“You'll see it this weekend,” Keith shot back. 

“Yeah…” Lance trailed off. “Ah, look babe, it’s late and I’m super beat, but there’s something I gotta to talk to you about.”

“They’re working you pretty hard, huh?” Keith said sympathetically.

“I gotta get the most out of it while I’m here. So yeah, lots of late nights in the lab.” 

Keith heard the weariness in his voice and made a noise that he understood. “What did you wanna talk about?”

Lance sighed heavily into the receiver. “Look, I know I said I’d come visit this weekend, but the thing is, my sister just had another kid. Little sucker arrived like a whole month early, so I really ought to go see my family instead…”

“Oh…” Keith’s heart sank. He’d been counting down the days until Lance visited like his life depended on it. He didn’t say anything for a while.

“Keeeeeeeeiiiiiith…” Lance whined apologetically. “Ugh, you're mad. I don't blame you.”

“No, it’s okay. Go see your family.” Keith tried to hide his disappointment. “I’ll still be here when you get back.”

“I’m really sorry...”

“Nah, family is important. Or, so I hear...” Keith laughed weakly, not really remembering what it was like to be beholden to a group of people by way of blood.

“Yeah, it is... Thanks for understanding. I love you, babe.”

“I know you do,” Keith said sadly.

He fell limply onto his bed after Lance hung up and hissed out a slow, frustrated sigh. The one woefully long week he had to survive was now drawn out to six more, and he was trying not to be mad at Lance for it. At the same time though, he didn’t know how he was going to make it through the monotony. His sanity was already hanging on its last thread. He looked at the dismal numbers in his bank account and kicked himself for not having gotten off his ass and found a job. If he had the extra cash, he could have flown out to visit Lance instead. Keith had done so well in school, where everything he’d needed to do was clearly laid out for him, but he was finding that he kind of sucked at the whole real life thing. He turned angrily onto his side, frustrated with himself for not having his shit together, frustrated with Lance for putting his family first, frustrated with their entire situation and life in general. 

_Tomorrow..._

_I’ll look for a job tomorrow…_

He begrudgingly promised himself. Even though he’d said that before, he definitely wasn’t going to put it off this time. Right?

 

 

Lance flew home to his family the following weekend instead of visiting Keith. They were on a video call, and Lance was introducing his little niece and nephew to Keith, who was trying not to sulk.

“This lovely, little lady to my left here is Elena,” Lance gestured at the tall eight-year-old standing next to his chair. “And this little grunt is Enrique,” Lance said with a strong roll in his R, picking up a kid that looked five or six and plopping him down in his lap. 

“No, Henry!” The boy insisted.

“Right, Henry. You got it little man!” Lance ruffled the boy’s hair. “These are two of my sister’s three - no wait, four now - _four_ kids. Eddie, Elena, Enrique aka _Henry_ , and now baby Lizzy too - short for Elizabeth. She likes ‘E’ names, if you couldn’t tell. Look Henry, this is your Uncle Keith.” Lance turned to the kid in his lap and pointed at the screen. “Can you say hi?”

The boy bashfully turned his face into Lance’s chest.

“Aw, Henry’s always been the shy one,” Lance laughed. “Come on, say hi to Uncle Keithy Keith. For your Uncle Lancey Lance? No? All right...”

Keith bristled at the cutesy names but didn’t make an argument out of it.

“Hi, Uncle Keith!” Elena shouted, taking up the entire screen with her presence. Her broad smile was missing a front tooth.

Keith smiled and waved awkwardly. It was weird having some kid he’d only just met calling him uncle but it was incredibly sweet at the same time. He felt his mood softening.

Lance pulled Elena back so the three of them were in frame again. “Hey, where’s your older brother? Where’s Eddie?” He asked them.

“He’s sleeping,” Henry said quietly.

“Sleeping! Too much climbing on Uncle Lance, I guess.”

Keith smiled at how good Lance was with his younger relatives.

“Enrique, Elena, are you bothering your Uncle Lance again?” A voice called in the background. Elena shrieked and grabbed her brother by the hand. They ran off together, screaming in a fit of giggles. 

“They sure seem lively,” Keith remarked.

“Oh my god, Keith, this place is a mad house! I’m exhausted! They’ve been climbing me like I’m a tree! Especially Eddie. He’s only nine, but like, he’s big enough to do some damage now!” Lance rubbed his shoulder and sighed. “I’m really sorry I didn't make it out there. It’s so good to see them all again though.”

Keith nodded. It was obvious how much Lance loved his family. He looked so happy being there. Keith felt guilty for wanting his boyfriend home instead.

“Sorry, I never really know what to say to kids…” He said awkwardly.

“Nah, babe, you did fine! They liked you! Henry’s just shy,” Lance smiled reassuringly.

“Babe? Who is this _babe_ you’re talking to?” A woman’s boisterous, thickly accented voice said.

Lance stiffened and looked off screen.

“Uh, hey MaMa…”

Keith tensed too and sat up straighter in his chair.

“I see that smile, you’re talking to someone _special_ ,” the voice continued.

Lance laughed nervously. His eyes darted back to Keith, who panicked on his boyfriend’s behalf and wondered if maybe he should end the call.

“Lance, my child, are you hiding a girlfriend from us?” Her tone was playful, teasing almost.

“Uh, not- not exactly…” Lance swallowed.

“Come on, show your MaMa.”

_Oh no…_

Keith’s stress levels were rising. He could only imagine how bad Lance’s must be. His view of the innards of the Lance’s bedroom jarred as Lance pulled his computer away from what Keith could only assume was his approaching mother. Lance caught Keith’s concerned eye for a moment, and a soft smile broke across his face. He set his laptop back down.

“MaMa… I’m talking to Keith. My- my boyfriend.” His voice faltered on the last syllable. 

_LANCE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!_

Keith held his breath and gripped the edges of his laptop, not believing what he was witnessing. He watched Lance’s worried face continue to stare off-camera for what felt like forever.

“MaMa?” Lance’s voice wavered, his chest rising and falling more with each breath.

“Your _what_?” Lance’s mom yelped. Keith cringed at the outburst but saw where Lance got his vocal chords.

“Uh…” Lance was panicking; Keith could see it on his face. He looked helplessly at Keith through the screen. Keith wished he knew what to say. Lance was in trouble, and he was being utterly useless.

“I- I guess there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you…” Lance said quietly.

“Oh Lance, really?” Her voice carried a hint of disappointment. “Is it serious?” She asked skeptically.

“Um…” Lance looked unsure until his eyes flitted to Keith. “Yeah, I think it is...” Keith's stomach sucked in hearing that. Lance managed a small smile before glancing fearfully back at his mom. 

Keith balled his hands into fists, feeling totally powerless to help. Lance’s shoulders dropped, and he looked like he was about to cry.

“Oh no. No no, baby! You’re okay!” Her voice immediately waxed sympathetic. Keith saw a stout, dark-haired woman come into frame and wrap her arms around her son. “I was just surprised! I thought maybe you were joking. You know how you like to kid, and you were always so popular with the girls!” She rubbed her son’s back comfortingly.

Lance wiped one eye and hugged his mom. Keith’s heart nearly broke when he heard Lance mutter a muffled apology.

“Stop, you have nothing to apologize for!” Lance’s mom said. “Now,” she paused to pull back from her son. “Let me meet this _Keith_.”

Keith’s second-hand panic became first-hand panic as the attention turned to him. He already felt like he’d been spying on a private family moment, but he was also in his boxers and a ratty old t-shirt. It was no state for a first-impression. He was trying to remember if he’d even combed his hair that day, but his mind had gone completely blank. He shook his head fiercely and mouthed ‘NO’ to Lance. 

‘It’s okay,’ Lance mouthed back as his mother pulled up a chair next to him. Keith had a final moment to scream internally before Lance turned his laptop and added his mother to the frame too.

“Keith, I presume?” She asked rather brusquely.

“Uh, hi... Mrs. McClain.” Keith cleared his throat and put on a quick smile, praying the connection was too bad for his unkempt appearance to show. 

Mrs. McClain leaned forward to peer at the boy on the screen. Her face grew terrifyingly big on Keith’s monitor, but he kept the smile plastered to his face no matter how much his toes were curling into the carpet under his desk.

“Oye, Mijo.” She turned to her son. “Is this the same Keith you were always competing with at your school? The one that called you his rival?”

“MaMa! NO!” Lance shrieked.

Keith snorted away some of the tension. “Is that how he tells it?” 

“Oh, he was always going on and on about you!”

“MA! I WAS NOT!” Lance yelled and covered his reddening face with his hands. 

“We heard about you every time he nearly beat you at something. I never understood why he cared so much, but now I think I see,” Mrs. McClain grinned and peered sideways at her son. Keith couldn’t help but grin too.

“Who was the other one you liked to talk about? Sh-something... Shoro?”

“Shiro?” Keith helped.

“That's the one!” She snapped her fingers.

Lance groaned, growing a darker shade of red.

“Oh, baby, I see it now. You _did_ like the boys,” she chuckled and rubbed the back of her son’s pouting head.

Keith couldn’t stop himself from laughing out loud. Lance looked _miserable_.

“Well, I’ll leave you two to have your chat. Keith, you keep beating my son, okay? It keeps him motivated.” She winked. “And baby,” she added on a more serious note, the playfulness gone from her voice. “We’ll figure out how to tell your father later.” 

“Okay...” Lance shifted uncomfortably. 

“So nice to meet you Keith!” She sang and waved on Keith’s screen before disappearing off the side of it. “And leave the door open Lance!” She yelled from off-screen. “You’re not married yet!”

“ _MAMA!!_ Can you not??” Lance shouted back.

Keith bent forward with silent laughter. “I see my reputation precedes me,” he grinned smugly when they were alone.

“God, shut up,” Lance groaned and slouched in his chair. “That was humiliating.”

“I like your mom,” Keith laughed. 

“You just like anything that makes me suffer.” Lance pouted.

Keith stifled a snort.

“Ugh, well that takes care of one of the things I needed to do…”

“Sorry about that…” Keith cringed. He hadn’t meant to put Lance in that situation.

“Nah, don’t be. I’ve been trying to figure out how to tell her for a while now. Might as well tell the rest of them too while I’m here.”

“Are you gonna be okay?” Keith’s face twisted with concern for his boyfriend.

“They’re my family. They’ll love me whatever I do,” Lance said as confidently as he could.

“I wish I could be there with you,” Keith said softly.

“Me too.” Lance's face pained. “I’ll be home soon, babe,” he smiled and dragged his fingers over Keith’s screen. “Love you.”

The words were on the tip of Keith's tongue, but he swallowed them, worried he was going to botch it again. And besides, it was probably something he should say for the first time in person.

 

 

Keith paced in his apartment worrying about Lance all night. It was his last night with his family, and there was a good chance he was in the midst of an uncomfortable conversation. One brought on because of him, no less, and Keith was racked with guilt over it, especially given the ominous way Mrs. McClain has spoken about telling Lance’s father. 

Keith: Hey, call me if you need to talk or anything  
Keith: And let me know how it goes...

_Thank god I don’t have parents…_

_I could not handle that…_

Keith flopped onto the couch and hoped everything was okay. 

 

Lance: ughghgh at least that’s over…

Keith: that bad huh?

Lance: eh, it coulda been worse  
Lance: my dad especially doesn’t really get the whole bi thing but w/e  
Lance: if I gotta be full-on gay to them, then so be it  
Lance: I’ll suck dicks forever for you babe ;)

Keith: romantic -__-

Keith felt a modicum of relief but couldn’t tell if Lance was really okay or just downplaying matters.

Keith: you sure you’re okay?

Lance: I’ll be fine in a few weeks when I’m home with you

Keith bit his lip on his bed. He been mulling over an idea in case Lance needed cheering up, and he got the feeling that he did. He opened his camera and pressed the rarely-used button in the lower left corner of the screen. The camera flipped around, and he was suddenly staring at his own face. He flinched at the unflattering angle and moved his arm around in search of a better one. He pulled his shirt up like he’d seen Pidge doing and took a few test shots but wasn’t happy with any of the results. He sighed and admitted to himself that he had no idea what he was doing before moving to the bathroom where at least there was better lighting.

Fifteen minutes and about fifty clicks of his camera later, Keith had something he was happy with. He opened the chat with Lance and selected what he felt was the best one of the bunch. A photo of himself taken from a high angle, shirtless, defined edges of his abs showing, with the not so subtle outline of an erection clearly visible though taut maroon underwear that was pulled low to reveal the ‘V’ of his hips appeared in the chat space. He’d made sure to get the swell of one bicep in the frame too. The top of the picture cut off just below his eyes, and his red, slightly parted lips were a touch out of focus. Keith felt it was pretty artistic and smirked to himself, knowing it was _definitely_ going to get a rise out of Lance. He hesitated for a moment and then, feeling rather bold, pressed send.

Keith: thought you might need some extra cheering up today <3

He settled onto his bed and casually stroked the erection he’d worked up for the sake of the photo, waiting for Lance’s response. It took less than thirty seconds.

Lance: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
Lance: ASDGINSDLKIGSLFNGSBN  
Lance: HOLY ASS SMACK KEITH  
Lance: WARN ME NEXT TIME

Keith: oh jeez… please tell me your mom didn’t see that too…

Lance: NO. FOR MY SAKE I MEAN!!  
Lance: I HAVE EXPIRED!!!

Keith hummed with satisfaction and stroked himself.

Not long after, his phone rang.

“Holy crow, Keith. I hope you know you committed murder tonight.” Lance’s voice was throaty. 

“Glad you liked it,” Keith grinned, thoroughly pleased with himself.

“Seriously, I didn’t know you had it in you,” Lance marveled. 

“Yeah, well…” Keith smirked.

“The thing is…” Lance continued, voice slow and breathy. “That selfie got me all riled up...”

“Yeah?” Keith flicked his eyebrows. “You hard right now?”

“So hard.” Lance groaned into the phone. “What’re you gonna do about it?”

“Uh...” Keith was suddenly thrown off.

“Talk me through it,” Lance’s low voice rolled into his ear.

“On the phone?” Keith sounded unsure.

“I mean, we don't have to,” Lance backed off.

“No, it’s okay,” Keith agreed. It sounded like they had both already started anyways. “Just… how do we do this?”

“Just like, tell me what you’re doing. Talk dirty and stuff,” Lance explained.

“I- I can’t talk dirty…” Keith was instantly flustered.

“You do it all the time!”

“I do? Shit...” 

“Here, just, use your hand, pretend it’s me…” Lance whispered.

Keith closed his eyes and hissed as his hand kept working. He racked his brain for something to say, which was hard to do with his hand moving the way it was. They stayed silent but for their breath echoing on the line. 

“This is pretty awkward.” Keith felt himself growing self-conscious.

“It’s okay, don’t force it. I can hear you breathing.” 

“I can hear you too.” Keith swallowed. “It’s kinda hot...”

“Yeah?” Lance gasped. “I’m looking at this picture you sent me. Fuck, Keith... I wish you were here.” 

Keith let out a shuddered breath at the desperation mounting in Lance’s voice and flicked his wrist faster. “You’ve done this before, huh?” Keith remarked. He hadn’t and wasn’t sure he was doing it right.

“Heh. Maybe,” Lance snickered. “Remember that time you thought you heard me watching porn? Back at the Garrison?”

“Yeah, I think so.” Keith acted like he didn’t remember immediately. He could still hear Lance moaning through the wall clear as day.

“Well… I wasn’t. I did have someone on the phone though.” Keith could hear the smug grin in Lance’s voice.

“Oh my god… I’m glad you didn’t tell me that at the time. I'd have died.”

“Wait, here’s the real kicker, Keith… It was a dude.”

A little burst of adrenaline coupled with a pang of jealousy hit Keith’s groin. “Shut the fuck up, Lance!” He whispered breathily, his grip suddenly tightening.

“Yeah, that ‘girl’ I kept running off to see. Nah, he’s my best kept secret. And the other thing you won’t believe-”

“No, shut up! Stop talking about some other guy!” Keith stroked himself harder.

“You jealous?” Lance taunted.

“Ugh, if you were here right now…” Keith growled. His hackles were raised.

“Yeah? What would you do?”

“I’d jerk you off so hard that you'd forget anyone else ever touched you.”

Lance's breath blew back into the receiver. “Holy shit…”

“Then I’d hold you down and ride you until you passed out beneath me.”

Lance didn’t respond but Keith heard a strangled moan and breath hitching on the other end. He picked up his own pace, trying to match his body’s timing to Lance’s.

“Keith, I’m about to-”

“Fuck…” Keith whispered as he heard Lance coming. His body tensed, and he nearly dropped the phone. His fingers slid over the screen, opening some other app as he scrambled to press it back against his ear and listen to the rest of Lance’s soft moans. He held it in place at an awkward angle, fingers pressing hard into the screen, until their breathing returned to normal.

Lance snickered a few moments later. “I’m Keith and I can’t talk dirty,” he mocked.

“Fine, I stand corrected.” Keith sighed and sank into his pillow, feeling more relaxed than he had in weeks. “I really miss you, you know…” He whispered.

“I miss you too, babe. Ugh, five more weeks, right?” Lance lamented. 

“Five more weeks,” Keith echoed his sentiment.

“This picture is gonna get me through it though.” Lance whistled. “I can’t believe you did this!” 

Keith could hear the grin in his boyfriend’s voice and wore a smug smile to match it. 

“Hey, Keith... I love you.”

“I love-” Keith paused dramatically. “Muffins.”

“Jerk,” Lance snorted. 

“Good night, Lance.”

 

Keith’s phone buzzed with a notification a few minutes later as he was crawling under his blankets. It was a text with an attachment. Keith immediately assumed it was Lance responding to his photo in kind.

_Well that was fast..._

Keith shook his head with a grin.

_All right Lance, let’s see what you’ve got..._

He clicked the notification.  


A chat opened with a photo of a man fresh out of the shower, skin slick with residual moisture, towel riding low on his waist, muscles popping everywhere. Lots of muscles. Too many muscles. Keith’s eyes widened. It wasn’t Lance in the picture. It was-

 

_...SHIRO?_

 

Keith cocked his head confused by the words ‘Looking good, Keith’ that accompanied the picture.

_Whoa… Why would he..._

A horrible feeling crept over Keith. There was no way Shiro would send something like that unsolicited. He scrolled up in the chat and clasped a hand over his mouth. Somehow, probably while juggling the phone on the call Lance, he had accidentally sent his selfie to Shiro too.

_Oh no…_

_No no no no no…_

This couldn’t be happening. He’d known photos like that were a bad idea. Keith gripped a handful of his hair and immediately regretted every decision he’d made in the last thirty minutes. He scrolled back down to look at the photo of Shiro again. 

_Wait, is he…_

Keith squinted and zoomed in on Shiro's face.

_Is he WINKING??_

Keith screamed and tossed the phone to the end of his bed like it was on fire. He stared at it in shock, panting.

_Oh my god, what did I do…_

_I have to tell Lance…_

He grabbed his phone to call him back but stopped. Lance was already extremely insecure about Keith’s low-key crush on Shiro. Even if literally nothing had ever happened between them and even if Lance openly admitted he would totally 'let Shiro wreck him’ if Keith weren't in the picture, it had the potential to devastate him. And, he had just come out to his _entire_ family. 

_He really doesn’t need this right now…_

Keith set his phone on the nightstand and huddled under his blankets. He would explain to the both of them later. He didn't know _how_ exactly, but he'd figure it out. 

_Tomorrow…_

_Yeah, tomorrow..._

 

 

Keith sat in front of his computer stressing. His leg bounced with nervous energy under his desk. In typical fashion, he’d skipped training with Shiro that morning to avoid having to explain himself. He hadn’t told Lance about the selfie mishap yet either. He was actually scrolling through job postings, the other thing he’d been neglecting, to avoid dealing with it. He wondered if maybe he could just pretend the whole thing had never happened and Shiro would just politely go along with it.

Shiro: Missed you at the gym today.  
Shiro: Do we maybe need to talk about something?

Keith saw the texts come in and immediately turned his full attention to applying to jobs.

 

 

Later that afternoon, Hunk invited Keith over to watch a movie. Keith jumped at the invitation. It was the perfect excuse to delay certain conversations he didn’t want to be having and a wanted distraction from the regrettable goings-on in his life. 

Shortly after he arrived, Keith’s eyebrows raised as Pidge emerged from her room hand-in-hand with a strawberry-blonde girl not much taller than herself. He side-eyed Pidge after noticing the girl was wearing a pair of her boxer shorts. Pidge smirked back then happily introduced the new face as Maria. Keith shook her hand and shot his little gremlin of a friend a knowing look. He had a feeling he knew who she had been taking selfies for. Pidge warned him to keep his mouth shut with one squint of her eyes.

Though Maria’s bubbly energy was a welcome addition to fill the void Lance had left, Keith’s mood soured when he realized he was going to be the fifth wheel that night. He tried to remain optimistic, but thirty minutes into the movie his mood was bottoming out hard. Being sandwiched between two lovey-dovey couples, the ever-sweet and super cuddly Hunk and Shay on his right and the hot-and-heavy, verging on lewd Pidge and Maria to his left, was not what he’d had in mind for the evening. He knew they weren’t trying to taunt him, but it sure felt that way. At least Hunk and Shay had the decency to not make out for the duration of the movie. He wished he could say the same for the pair on his left. Keith had stopped paying attention to the movie long ago, not that his coupled-up friends had noticed. He was missing Lance too much to focus.

Keith: You’d better get your butt home soon. I’m surrounded by obnoxious couples and it sucks  
Keith: Pidge is making out right next to me wtf!

Lance: your poor virgin eyes

Keith: it just sucks that you're not here  
Keith: five weeks feels like forever

Lance: aw babe...  
Lance: you’ll see me sooner than you think ;)

Keith saw Pidge’s hand slip under Maria’s shirt out of the corner of his eye. He folded his arms with a huff and felt more alone than ever.

 

 

Keith bailed as soon as the movie ended, having had about as much as he could take. He was also planning on telling Lance about the picture he’d accidentally sent Shiro when he got home, but Lance wasn’t responding online. Keith called several times over the course of an hour, but he didn’t pick up. He plopped down on the couch and opened the picture of Shiro again, trying to figure out what he was going to say. He should have just deleted the photo as soon as he’d gotten it, especially since Lance would probably ask to see it, which definitely wouldn’t help matters. But the thing was... Shiro looked good. _Really good._ Keith still hadn’t figured out why he would send a picture like that. 

_Unless…_

Keith bit his lip. 

_He wants to..._

He shook his head and chased the thought out of his mind. It had been a while was all. His body was feeling it. And he missed Lance. _A lot._ His eyes crept back to the photo again and drifted over the swell of Shiro’s shoulders and well-muscled chest, along the indents of his ab, and over that uncharacteristically playful wink. Keith lip twitched upward. He was fully engrossed when his phone vibrated several times with a string of texts from Lance. He sprang to his feet and bobbled his phone, very nearly dropping it, as though he’d been caught red-handed.

Keith clutched his chest as the shock faded.

_Shit… what am I doing..._

Lance: Hey babe, saw you called a bunch  
Lance: I’m about to pass out but just wanted to say a quick good night  
Lance: hope movie night was fun. I’ll call you tomorrow  
Lance: <3

Keith sank onto the couch again, disappointed, verging on miffed really, that they weren’t even going to get to talk after what he’d endured at the hands of his happily paired-up friends that night. He grumpily flipped back to the picture of Shiro, ready to delete it, when suddenly there was a knock at his door.

He froze. His eyes darted to the door, then to the picture on his phone, then slowly back at the door. 

_It can’t be…_

But it wasn’t unlike Shiro to drop up unannounced when he thought something was bothering him, and Keith had ignored his texts that day. His chest heaved nervously.

_This could be bad…_

Keith’s body was feeling Lance's absence more than ever. He was lonely and not thinking rationally. He didn't trust himself not to do something very, _very_ stupid. His fingers shook as he opened the chat with Lance and typed ‘ _call me please??_ ’. He desperately needed to hear from his boyfriend. He very nearly sent the message, but stopped himself when there was another knock on the door. He pinched his eyes shut and his clenched teeth. 

_Shit…_

_Shiro, please... not now..._

Swearing on his life that he wasn’t going to do anything he’d regret, he slowly approached the door and gulped with his hand on the knob. He cautiously pulled it open and gasped, feeling his heart nearly stop in his chest.

“Wh- what?!” His eyes ran up and down the man on his doorstep, certain he was seeing things. It was too good to be true. 

“Surprise, babe,” Lance grinned cockily. “Whoa!” He staggered back as Keith all but jumped on him. 

“You- How-” Keith grabbed either side of Lance’s face and kissed him between unfinished questions. He threw his arms around him and held him for a long moment, never having been more relieved in his life. Lance held him tight too.

“Ugh, you asshole!” Keith pushed him back suddenly and glared. “You just texted me that you were going to bed!”

“Hey! I had to make sure you’d be surprised!” Lance cried defensively. “I was worried you were on to me!”

Keith let out an annoyed huff but shook his head with happy disbelief. “You’re really here...” He fell against him again.

“Sure am! Caught a flight from my parent’s place.” Lance kissed his temple and cinched an arm around his waist.

“You’re supposed to be saving money,” Keith chided but pulled him closer. 

“Well, I couldn’t wait to see you, and a very lovely travel agent named Delilah managed to find me a return flight that had an overnight layover here. There was a small fee to change the reservation, but you are worth every penny!” He booped Keith on the nose to punctuate his sentence.

“I missed you so much.” Keith leaned in and traced his nose up the side of Lance’s neck.

“I _guarantee_ I missed you more,” Lance insisted, tangling his fingers in Keith’s dark locks.

“Still trying to out-do me, huh?”

“I’ll never stop.”

They locked lips over the threshold. Keith kicked the door shut behind them. Their hands were pulling at each other’s clothes before Lance had even taken his backpack off.

“Do you need anything?” Keith asked, trying to be hospitable, as Lance shrugged off his bag.

“You know what I need…” Lance voiced breathily, capturing Keith’s lips again.

 

 

 

A thin sheen of sweat covered their skin as Keith climbed off Lance and flopped onto the mattress next to him, panting. Lance, equally out of breath, turned onto one side and curled an arm around his boyfriend.

“Fuck, I needed that more than you know…” Lance gasped, gently knocking their foreheads together.

“Me too...” Keith’s eyes widened fearfully at the thoughts he’d been having moments before Lance had shown up. “Thanks for charming some unsuspecting travel agent into cutting you a deal.”

“My charm never fails me,” Lance winked. “I’m glad I got to visit my family though. You gotta come with me next time. They’ll love you!” Lance planted a string of kisses in Keith’s hair.

“Will they?” Keith asked skeptically. “How did the rest of your family take it?” 

“My dad...” Lance waved his hand dismissively. “Whatever, he’ll get over it. My brothers were a bit surprised. My sister strangely wasn’t. She said she kinda suspected it, which makes me think she’s actually a witch or some sort of unearthly creature more than ever.” His eyes turned sad. “They didn't want me to tell the kids yet though. Uncle Keith is just Uncle Lance's friend. Ugh…” He groaned and curled into Keith's chest. “I'm the gay uncle, Keith.”

Keith frowned sympathetically and stroked the back of Lance's head, not really knowing what to say.

“But hey, my sister says you’re cute,” Lance managed to grin, nudging Keith in the ribs. “Of the occult or not, at least she has excellent taste.”

“Wait, you showed them my picture?”

“Of course I did! I love bragging about you!”

“Not _that_ picture…” Keith paled.

“Jesus, Keith, NO! Not _that_ picture! That was for my eyes only!” Lance squeezed him tight.

“Yeah…” Keith swallowed, figuring that was the best segue he was ever going to get. He hesitated though, not wanting to ruin the moment now that Lance was finally home.

“Hey,” Lance started first. “Would you ever want a big family like that?”

“Huh?” Keith blinked, completely caught off-guard. He shifted to look at Lance. “A family? Like, you and me?”

“Yeah! You, me, and three of four kids all packed in some little house, a dog… ” Lance stared off dreamily. “Not right now, but ya know, someday...” He smiled.

Keith raised one eyebrow, unsure. “I dunno. I’ve never really thought about it...”

A house? A family? Those were definitely in the ‘for other people, not Keith’ category. He felt a little light-headed just thinking about it. 

Lance made an amused noise at Keith’s anxious face. “Sorry, not trying to freak you out. You really don’t think much about the future though, do you?”

“Honestly? I never thought I had one,” Keith admitted.

Lance’s face softened. He pulled Keith closer with one arm until their faces were inches apart. “Well, I can see a future for you,” he whispered, nearly closing the distance between their lips.

“If it was with you… Maybe I could see it too.” Keith smiled, still a little unsure, eyes going puppy-dog soft.

Lance pulled back with a groan and looked like he was about to die. He rolled onto his back and threw an arm over his eyes in distress. “I can’t believe you’ll say shit like that but won’t tell me you love me! And with those eyes too?!” He slammed a pillow over his face and yelled into it. 

“Are you okay?” Keith propped himself up on one elbow to look at Lance, not really sure what he’d done.

“NO! I AM LITERALLY DYING WITH LOVE FOR YOU, KEITH!”

“Hey, I care a lot about you too! This is just the first time I’m thinking about this stuff.” He sat up and ran a hand through his hair, feeling pretty overwhelmed. “It’s a lot...”

Lance limply dropped the pillow onto his stomach and nodded sullenly.

“But hey, you know what I do love?” Keith shook Lance's shoulder encouragingly.

“What, muffins?” Lance muttered sarcastically.

Keith shook his head, which wiped the snark right of Lance’s face.

“I love-” 

Lance’s eyebrows raised with anticipation. 

Keith sighed dreamily.

“Pizza,” he said then grinned evilly at Lance.

“You ass!” Lance whacked him with the pillow. Keith pushed the pillow away and fell on top of him, laughing harder than he had in weeks. 

“God, you don’t even like pizza that much!” Lance tried to pout, fighting to keep the corners of his mouth from turning upwards. “No, I’m not kissing you right now, you jerk!” He turned his head away from Keith’s advances. Keith grabbed one of Lance’s wrists and pressed it into the mattress. A small gasp came from Lance and he finally relented, letting Keith bring their lips together in a slow, sensuous kiss.

Keith pulled back, breath catching in his throat when he saw his boyfriend smiling softly back at him. Lance’s eyes were full of love. Love for him. For Keith. Keith looked at that face and saw a glimmer of something that he didn’t think existed, not for him anyways. For the first time in his life, maybe, just maybe, Keith was seeing a future. The rising anxiety in his chest stopped him from looking twice to be sure though. It was too much to think about just yet. For now, he happy enough just having Lance home.

 

 

The next morning, Keith woke up next to Lance. He turned onto his side and let his hand fall onto Lance’s hip, tracing it along the sleeping form filling the space that had gone empty for seven long weeks. The world felt right again. He rehashed their conversation from the night before and carefully swept a lock of brown hair across Lance’s forehead.

_The future, huh?_

Keith smiled and reached for his phone to send a quick _‘Sorry. That was meant for Lance.’_ to Shiro. He gently kissed Lance's forehead before snuggling up next to his sleeping boyfriend.

 

 

They met up with Hunk and Pidge and their respective girlfriends for brunch before driving Lance’s car to the airport. Pidge and Maria tagged along in the backseat so Keith could see Lance off without worrying about the car getting ticketed.

“Okay, you weren’t kidding about Pidge and her girlfriend. They are way too much! Like don’t get me wrong, Maria is great but, ugh... I don’t know how I’m going to sleep in my room anymore. I’m gonna have to burn all my sheets!” Lance lamented as they walked to the security line.

“Never thought I’d see the day that Lance McClain complained about girls hooking up in his bed,” Keith smirked.

“Dude, Pidge is like my sister! I can’t...” He shuddered.

“If you really can’t stand it, you wanna move into my place when you get back?” Keith asked, rather casually.

The question appeared to have broken Lance. He stopped frozen in his tracks, staring at Keith, trying to form words with his mouth. Keith realized after the fact that maybe that question had a certain amount significance to it.

“Uh, I mean… It’d be convenient… and cheaper… and Pidge wouldn’t have to find a new-”

Lance shushed him. “No, no. Stop ruining this with logic!” He stared at him. “You seriously wanna live with me? Like, you wanna wake up next to me every day and deal with my dumb ass 24/7?” His expression shifted to a mixture of disbelief and excitement. “Like matching toothbrushes, share a sock drawer, hear-each-other-shit kind of live with me?!” 

“Well, when you put it like that...” Keith grimaced.

“Keith…” Lance interlaced hands at their waist-level, cautious about showing too much affection in public, and looked at him pleadingly. “Really?”

Keith shrugged. “I mean, yeah… Do you not?”

“No, no, no! I absolutely do! I just- I didn’t think you were ready for that,” Lance said.

“Well, I am,” Keith smiled shyly.

Lance hugged him so close. “This is going to be the longest five weeks of my life. God, I love you so much.” He squeezed him so hard, Keith could barely breath.

“I still love-”

“Pizza, yeah I know,” Lance laughed and kissed Keith’s forehead.

 

 

Keith waited until Lance went through security. He folded his arms, half hugging himself, and watched his boyfriend walk towards his gate from behind the thick glass on the other side of the checkpoint. Before rounding the corner, Lance turned to look back at him with a happy-go-lucky, sideways grin. Something about that grin struck Keith square in the chest harder than anything he’d felt in his life, nearly knocking the wind out of him. Standing there, looking at Lance, Keith forgot the pathetic, jobless state of his life, the silly misunderstanding with Shiro, how lonely he’d been that summer... Everything would be fine so long as the man his eyes were glued to was in his life. He pressed his hand against the glass. Lance waved back at him with a smile then shot him a subtle finger gun. Keith felt his chest swell with a sudden realization.

“Lance! I love you!” He yelled with all his might. He didn’t care if everyone at the airport would be staring at him. He had to say it. He couldn’t believe he’d waited so long. But, there was no reaction from the smattering of travelers bustling around him. The words had come out as barely more than a whisper. Lance turned the corner and walked out of sight never having heard. Keith’s hand slid down the glass as he realized his vocal chords had failed him. It didn’t matter though. Keith finally knew, and he’d make sure Lance knew too soon.

 

He got back into the car with the biggest grin on his face. Even Pidge and Maria’s red, swollen lips from making out in his backseat when they should have been watching his car didn’t irritate him. Keith paused a moment, gazing into the steering wheel.

_I love him…_

“Whoa, I _love_ him,” he said it out-loud for the first time.

“Pidge!” He turned to his friend in the back seat. “I love him!” He had to share it with someone. 

Pidge threw an arm around her girl and smiled back warmly. “It’s about time you figured that out!” 

 

Lance: WTF YOU SAID IT TO PIDGE BEFORE ME??

Keith: Huh??

Lance: She just texted me ‘omg keith is the biggest googly-eyed idiot rn. He just declared his love for you to his steering wheel and then the backseat. You should have seen his dumb face!’

Keith: whoops…

Lance: whoops?? That’s the best you got??  
Lance: WHOOPS????

Keith: It’ll be waiting for you when you get home <3

Lance: NO SAY IT RIGHT NOW  
Lance: I SWEAR I WILL NOT COME HOME IF YOU DON’T  
Lance: KEITH

Keith: Have a safe flight Lance  
Keith: *pizza emoji*

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> First I painstakingly got them together in PDR, _and then I tore them apart!!_  
>  BUT IT'S OKAY! IT'S JUST FOR THE SUMMER!!
> 
> How bout that gay/bi angst, huh? Curious what you though of Lance's family's reaction. Was trying to keep it... real? (I had a lot of fun writing the part with his mom). Or I dunno, maybe you're just here for the smut... (Are you disappointed there wasn't more smut??? <_<'')
> 
> The 'other guy' Lance was referring to was Lotor from a previous story in this series, in case you haven't read it. ;)
> 
> Would love to hear your thoughts/criticisms/favorite parts in the comments! It's hard to pick, but my favorite is probably Lance getting exposed as a teen Keith stan by his mom. ;)
> 
> Also, you did it, Maria! You're dating Pidge!! <3
> 
> Thanks for reading!!!
> 
> Art!!  
> [ Keith's Sext (censored)](https://enjayas.tumblr.com/post/164791549749/suitboxers-nsfw-keith-commission-for-badsuki) The SFW version.  
> [Keith's Sext Eggplant Censor](https://twitter.com/enjayas_writes/status/902934889183436800) On Twitter, censored with an eggplant LOL  
> [ Keith's Sext ](https://enjayas.tumblr.com/post/164791606114/pornboxers-uncensored-ver-of-the-nsfw-keith) The NSFW version. Yep, this killed Lance all right...  
> [ Looking good, Keith ;)](https://enjayas.tumblr.com/post/164757723239/please-sext-responsibly-shiro) Shiro's sext. From Fishiebug-art on Tumblr. Could not resist getting more Shiro art. (This artist also drew GoGoDaddy Shiro in PDR.) BTW, Keith's sext is coming soon. hue hue hue  
> [ PSXTR Notes](https://enjayas.tumblr.com/post/164337836779/beginning-notes-from-please-sext-responsibly-god) Photos from my notebook for this story!
> 
> Find at me here:  
> Twitter: @enjayas_writes  
> Tumblr: @enjayas


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